The Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, SD

The Mammoth Site is an archeological site filled with the bones/skeltons of many mammoths. 140,000 years ago it was a sink hole filled with water and surrounded by grass. Mammoth and other animals would go to get a drink of water and then slide into the sink hole, unable to get out. Eventually the hole filled with sediment, covering the hole.
In 1974 the area was being cleared to start a development. A mammoth tusk was scraped. The developer realized they had found something special and stopped the work. Archeologists eventually realized that area was filled with the remains of of many animals, primarily mammoth.
The building we toured is built around the dig. We learned a lot about mammoths.Read more